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CHALLENGE OF THE TRIPLE CROWN

It's one of the most exciting and exhilarating two minutes in competitive sports today..."The Challenge of the Triple Crown." It's where horses are the heroes, held in the gentle, yet firm hands of a determined jockey. Winning the three races, the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, is an accomplishment that can only be claimed by eleven horses since 1877.

Undoubtedly, to win the Triple Crown, all the training and calculated breeding in the world won't replace the victorious horse's three qualities of greatness...a courageous heart, a determined will-to-win, and a bit of old-fashioned luck.

In this behind-the-scenes feature, Jim McKay takes a look at the races, the tracks, the marvelous alliance between trainer, horse and rider, the inspiring call to the post, and the color, sound and almost mystical excitement which radiates during those five spectacular weeks each May and June.